A device of the type set out above is known from German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,231,088. This has two counters one behind the other in the region of the guide channel, which detect the individual coins as they pass by means of feeling elements actuated by the coins. The first counter counts all of the coins, whereas the second counter only counts the coins of the larger type because the coins of the smaller type fall through the openings in the base of the guide channel before they reach the second counter. In order to determine the monetary value of the counted coins, a subtraction operation must be performed on the two counter readings. The two counters are only sufficient for counting two types of coin. It is necessary for each other type of coin to be counted to have its own counter and in practice this device is not very suitable for counting more than two types of coin. It is complicated if a larger number of different coins are to be counted, and the interpretation of the counter readings of the individual counters becomes more and more complicated as the number of counters increases.
Another disadvantage of this known counter, which operates purely mechanically, is that erroneous counts cannot be prevented if the forward feed for the coins in the guide channel is reversed for some reason during the counting process, since, in this case, coins which have already been detected by one counter are fed past this counter again and thus detected again. This problem is particularly significant when the counters used are equipped with a simple length detector.